At around 7:30pm on Monday evening, rumours of Aston Villa's desire to appoint former Arsenal boss Unai Emery as their new manager started to emerge.
Here at Mirror Football, we started looking into those reports to see if we could verify them. Yet within half-an-hour, Emery was confirmed as Steven Gerrard's successor and Villa had thwarted the so-called transfer gurus by keeping their business to themselves.
There's usually no smoke without fire when it comes to managerial appointments and transfers in football, yet Villa keep bucking the trend. The Premier League club have built a reputation for surprising English football - with a transfer window just around the corner.
"Out of the claret and blue"
In August 2021, Villa produced one of the biggest transfer shocks in recent history by signing Danny Ings from Southampton in a £25million deal. Supporters couldn't believe the move, as there were no rumours of the West Midlands club being interested in the striker.
Instead, the transfer experts were linking Ings with the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham. After all, the Englishman had scored 28 goals during the previous two seasons combined. He was not expected to join another mid-table club.
As Sky Sports News reporter Dharmesh Sheth said, "This deal has come completely out of the claret and blue!"
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Even Southampton midfielder Oriel Romeu didn't have a clue what was going on. Speaking after a pre-season friendly, he said: "I just found out after the game, they just told me... We saw this morning he wasn't there and we thought, I don't know, he had something and apparently he has moved to Villa."
At least Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl knew what was going on. "It was not a shock to me," he said. "We are always informed about what is going on behind the scenes. It was clear we had a player who didn't want to sign for us anymore."
Ings later explained how Villa kept the move a secret. He told Villa's website: "I’ve been at a lot of places in my career but this was definitely the best-kept secret. It has been a crazy couple of days. I wasn’t able to tell my family until it was announced.
"Now I am just happy to be here and get started. It’s hard to explain [what moments like this] are like. I am very close with my dad. Not being able to tell him during the process was probably the toughest thing ever.
“I told him on the way up on Wednesday night and he is excited. He is looking forward to seeing me hopefully grow at this club. My family have always followed me. This is a new part of the country I will be living in but I am looking forward to it."
Chambers at the double
Villa again shocked English football in January when they announced the signing of Calum Chambers from Arsenal on a free transfer. This wasn't a move that was on anyone's radar, as the Gunners were expected to keep players on their books rather than sell them.
Mikel Arteta's squad was low on numbers and the versatile defender was set to see out the last six months of his contract at the Emirates. Arsenal didn't even get any cash for Chambers, who was allowed to join Villa on a free transfer.
There were few conversations between Chambers and Gerrard ahead of the transfer and it all unfolded rapidly - denying the transfer gurus any opportunity of finding out.
"It's all happened pretty quickly to be honest," admitted Chambers. "It was a few days ago I was [made] aware of the interest and yeah, since then, its felt like it’s happened pretty quick so it's exciting times.
“I've played at Villa Park a few times, it's a great stadium and it's got a great set of fans, and obviously the manager as well.... We spoke a few times, it's all really positive and I can't wait to get started with it all."
If there's one thing to expect with Villa, it's the unexpected. It's going to be difficult trying to find out Emery's transfer shortlist in the January window!
